The approval delivers to opponents of same sex marriage in Maryland the framework needed to begin gathering about 56,000 signatures required to put the issue on the ballot.

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"This is a huge agreement between our two groups. These legislators fully support letting the people vote on the issue."

- Delegate Neil Parrott, R-District 2B

Flanked by his colleagues, Washington County Delegate Neil Parrott, R-District 2B, told reporters Wednesday that bipartisan support will fuel the effort to collect the signatures. The state Senate passed the Civil Marriage Protection Act on Friday, and the House passed the same sex marriage bill exactly a week prior.

Parrott serves as chairman of the website MDPetitions.com, which has joined forces with the Maryland Marriage Alliance, an organization that also submitted language to the Board of Elections in an effort to gather the nearly 56,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot in November.

"This is a huge agreement between our two groups," Parrott said. "These legislators fully support letting the people vote on the issue."

"As the Maryland Marriage Alliance, all we're trying to do is a simple thing: work together across this state, put this thing on petition and win this issue for the citizens of Maryland," said Derrick McCoy, executive director of Maryland Marriage Alliance.

According to the Board of Elections, both Parrott's and McCoy's submissions needed a little proofreading before being accepted.

"I believe that the people of Maryland are intelligent enough to elect us to office and ought to have the opportunity to have their voices heard on this very important issue. So, I do support the petition drive, as do 85 percent of my district," said Baltimore City Delegate Cheryl Glenn, D-District 45.

"It's indicative of the support in this state that this go to the citizens and the citizens have the final say on this petition," said Delegate Anthony O'Donnell, R-District 29C, a district that encompasses portions of Calvert and St. Mary's counties.

"Overwhelmingly, constituents in my district and everywhere I go out of my district are saying they don't want this and it will not happen," Baltimore County Delegate Emmett Burns Jr., D-District 10.

"I can assure you that we will do everything within our legal and political authority to make sure that nobody thwarts this process," said Anne Arundel County Delegate Don Dwyer Jr., R-District 31, a longtime opponent of same sex marriage.

Still, supporters of the same sex marriage bill said they believe the issue would still pass on referendum because this is a presidential-election year, which they said would attract more voters.